European Union

Congratulations to Christian Brothers College, Sidney Hill, Wellington Road, Cork who are this year's Irish national winners of the European Charlemagne Youth Prize.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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The Republic of Congo is a country that has undertaken a dramatic and often traumatic journey over a relatively short period of time, and headed to elections this Sunday, 20 March.

The country has been stabilised through a new constitution and a new political settlement between conflicting partners, enabled by President Denis Sassou Nguesso, who has been leading the country since 1997, and before that between 1979 and 1993. The Congo now seems to be on the right path on a long journey towards building a viable, stable and democratic future.

Although the legal and institutional framework has progressively improved, the Congo is still a young and maturing democracy. The lack of a deep rooted democratic culture means that there are likely to be isolated incidents from across the political spectrum.

The Congo has seen several successful parliamentary and presidential elections since 2002 which were viewed by international observers as fair and free. The 2012 parliamentary election was particularly well-viewed by observers from the International Organisation of the Francophonie.

Despite the challenges of transitioning towards a mature democracy, very significant progress has been made in recent years. The most recent and significant changes include an increasingly sophisticated electoral law and a Constitution that has increasingly protected human rights, civil liberties and democracy, while also providing greater checks and balances. This is particularly true of the 2015 Constitution and the 2016 Electoral Law.

On a diplomatic mission in Brussels in early March, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Congo, Jean-Claude Gakosso met with Federica Mogherini, the high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy, Didier Reynders, the Belgian foreign minister, and Patrick I. Gomes, the Secretary General of the African, Caribbean Pacific Group of States (ACP).

“We came to Brussels, heart of Europe and EU headquarters to reassure our partners about our sincere wish to continue our longstanding cooperation with the EU and reassure them of the sincerity of our electoral process. In two weeks the Congolese go to the polls. We have provided information on the institutional changes undertaken in our country and I have the feeling that we have received attentive care,” Gakosso told media in Brazzaville.

The European Union will not send an official monitoring to the upcoming Congolese presidential elections, which will take place on 20 March 2016. Instead European member state ambassadors will report on the elections back to the EU institutions. Individual monitors are also being sent, including Michel Kafando, Former Acting President of Burkina Faso on behalf of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF).

The Congolese foreign minister added that there was a convergence of opinion with his partners on the fact that Congolese citizens have to decide about their destiny since “sovereignty is an indisputable and non negotiable principle”.

Current election polls

Finally, according to Africa metrics polls, Denis Sassou Nguesso, who has been the President of the Republic of the Congo since 1997, is the favoured Congolese candidate and is most likely to achieve a comfortable victory. One poll showed 67% of voters intend to vote for him.

While a large majority of respondents to the poll believe the economic development and employment are the major challenges of Congo, 76% of respondents think there will be an amelioration of the economic situation of the country in the near future. The poll also shows that what the Congolese population is most dissatisfied about is education and most satisfied with national security.

 

 

The post EU looks to Congo elections, Sassou Nguesso leads polls appeared first on New Europe.

But how will this money be spent? Not well if a report into the EU’s spending on migration policy between 2007 and 2013 is anything to go by.

The European Court of Auditors has chastised Brussels for failing to plan or monitor its projects properly — and not being able to demonstrate how €1.1bn of funds were spent.

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Tusk, right, arrives in Nicosia for meetings with the Cypriot president earlier this week

At a meeting of all 28 ambassadors to the EU late yesterday, aides to Donald Tusk, the European Council president, circulated a new three-page draft of a migration deal with Turkey that will serve as the basis of two days of summit talks aimed at securing an agreement with Ankara by Friday.

We got our hands on the draft and have posted it here. Much of the text reflects the emerging consensus of European officials that has emerged over the last week, be it on the legality of the mass return policy of migrants from Greece to Turkey or on the sticky issue of getting Cyprus to sign onto any pact.

Because many of the issues are couched in opaque diplomatese, Brussels Blog hereby offers an annotated version of the key parts of the text:

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2015 Report on Turkey
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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The relations between the European Union and Kosovo are based on the Stabilisation and  Association Agreement signed on 27 October, in Brussels.

Download this video here.

When we last met in December, I pledged that Europe would stay the course on Ukraine, and I asked the same of Ukraine. Since then, we have delivered on that commitment.

The Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area is now provisionally applied, which will contribute to improving Ukraine's economy and strengthen its economic reform agenda.

Tomorrow marks two years since the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Federation. I assured President Poroshenko that our policy of non-recognition will remain in place.

We continue to support the diplomatic efforts aimed at implementing the Minsk agreements. Further determined efforts are needed. Our economic sanctions against Russia remain linked to the complete fulfilment of the Minsk Agreements.

We have also discussed the issue of Nadiya Savchenko, who is still in illegal detention in Russia. Let me in this context reiterate the call by the EU for her immediate release, along with Oleh Sentsov and all other illegally detained Ukrainian citizens.

President Poroshenko also outlined the efforts to overcome current political difficulties inside Ukraine. I hope that a solution will soon be found, which will enable Ukraine to continue the reforms demanded by the Ukrainian people. The IMF package needs to be delivered in full and the EU stands by you in these reform efforts.

I am also happy to note that further steps have been taken on visa liberalisation. Following the positive report by the Commission in December, Ukraine has taken the key steps in meeting its outstanding commitments. I trust it will soon be possible to take the next steps towards finalising this process.

Now let me make a few short comments on the European Council meeting. Most of the attention is focused on the objective to agree on a further strengthening of our cooperation with Turkey. As the negotiations intensify and we are moving into difficult talks, I want to recall three basic principles that will guide our work.

 First, the agreement must be acceptable to all 28 Member States, no matter big or small.

 Second, the agreement must fully comply with EU and international law.

And third, the agreement must effectively help to solve the migration crisis and contribute to our comprehensive strategy, which includes getting back to Schengen, ending the wave-through policy, humanitarian assistance to Greece, support to the Western Balkans and of course the reinforced cooperation with Turkey.

Only if we all work together in a coordinated manner and keep our cool, will we achieve success. I am cautiously optimistic, but frankly speaking more cautious than optimistic.

The public hearing "The crisis in Syria and the role of international and regional actors: security implications for Europe" was held on 16 March with researchers closely working on the issue and a representative from the EEAS. The hearing provided a better understanding of the situation on the ground, a vital requirement for bringing the conflict to an end.
Further information
Programme
Presentation by Michael Benhamou, Researcher and former Fellow at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies
hearing documents
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Mirza
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
The Dublin III Regulation allows Member States to send an applicant for international protection to a safe third country, irrespective of whether it is the Member State responsible for processing the application or another Member State

Ruijssenaars and Jansen
Transport
National authorities carry out general monitoring activities in order to guarantee air passengers’ rights but are not required to act on individual complaints

Mc Fadden
SERV
Advocate General Szpunar: the operator of a shop, hotel or bar who offers a Wi-Fi network free of charge to the public is not liable for copyright infringements committed by users of that network

On 16 March, SEDE held an exchange of views on securing commercial shipping lanes against piracy with representatives from EU NAVFOR Somalia, the Baltic and International Maritime Council and the European Commission. Please find below the presentations by the speakers.
Further information
Draft agenda and meeting documents
Presentation by Simon Church, Industry Liaison Officer EU NAVFOR
Presentation by Giles Noakes, Chief Maritime Security Officer, BIMCO
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

The new “Privacy Shield” framework on EU-US transfers of personal data by private firms, which is to replace the former "Safe Harbour" one, will be debated by Civil Liberties Committee MEPs in a hearing on Thursday afternoon. Austrian citizen Max Schrems, whose court case against facebook led to Safe Harbour's downfall, the US lead negotiator, the EU Data Protection Supervisor, representatives from the Article 29 Working Party, the European Commission and others will all be quizzed on the deal.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

The new “Privacy Shield” framework on EU-US transfers of personal data by private firms, which is to replace the former "Safe Harbour" one, will be debated by Civil Liberties Committee MEPs in a hearing on Thursday afternoon. Austrian citizen Max Schrems, whose court case against facebook led to Safe Harbour's downfall, the US lead negotiator, the EU Data Protection Supervisor, representatives from the Article 29 Working Party, the European Commission and others will all be quizzed on the deal.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

This is Thursday’s edition of our daily Brussels Briefing. To receive it every morning in your email in-box, sign up here.

Richard Nixon, left, with British prime minister Harold Wilson at Downing Street in 1969

Frost: “So in a sense what you’re saying is that there are certain situations…where the president can decide that it’s in the best interest of the nation or something and do something illegal?”

Nixon: “Well, when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.”

When it comes to the refugee crisis, Nixonian thinking appears to have taken over the EU’s institutions. Since the outline of a controversial deal with Turkey emerged last Monday, officials have repeated the mantra: whatever the EU does, it will be legal – and in the best interests of Europe. But doubts, both legal and practical, still remain.

On Wednesday, Frans Timmermans, the orotund first vice president of the European Commission, spelled out how the EU will try to return migrants and asylum seekers to Turkey without trampling on EU and international law. He said all asylum seekers on Greek islands would be subject to a proper hearing to determine whether their application is admissible – as is required in the Geneva Convention. This principle is also contained in a draft EU-Turkey agreement distributed to national capitals last night by Donald Tusk, who will host a two-day summit to hammer out the refugee deal starting today.

But for this to happen, Greece’s asylum system needs to be bulked up to cope with 10,000 arrivals per week. Extra judges and translators will be flown onto its islands, while reception facilities must be transformed into something resembling detention centres. In short, the system needs to be transformed from a dysfunctional mess labelled “degrading” by the European Court of Human Rights into the bulwark of the EU’s response to the refugee crisis. If the Greeks fail, and the system degenerates into a network of kangaroo courts rubber stamping decisions, then Europe’s actual courts – in either Strasbourg (European Court of Human Rights) or Luxembourg (European Court of Justice) – would likely strike the deal down.

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will take place on Wednesday 20 April, 9:00-12:30 and 15:00-18:30, and Thursday 21 April, 9:00-12:30 in Brussels.

Organisations or interest groups who wish to apply for access to the European Parliament will find the relevant information below.

Further information
watch the meeting live
Access rights for interest group representatives
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP